Hate |VK|

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Jungkook sat stiffly on the couch, his back straight and hands clenched tight in his lap. The room felt too small, too suffocating. His mind was racing, but his body felt frozen, paralyzed by the weight of his mother's words.

He had always known an arranged marriage was coming. He had accepted it, even welcomed it. After all, that's how it worked in his family. His mother would choose, and he would comply. It was simple. He would make the best of it. He would get used to whoever she chose.

But this?

The air seemed thicker now, charged with an unspoken tension, the kind that made every breath feel too sharp, too stifling.

He couldn't shake the feeling that everything had gone wrong. That this wasn't the life he had imagined.

He had braced himself for an arranged marriage. He had even prepared himself to meet someone he didn't know and gradually learn to love, or at least respect. But this—marrying Taehyung—was something else entirely.

His stomach twisted uncomfortably as the idea sank in. Taehyung. The same Taehyung who had always been a part of the rumors he had heard in college. Arrogant, spoiled, carefree. He never thought he'd be stuck with someone like that, especially not for life. And now, he was being told that this was the person he was supposed to marry?

Jungkook felt a dull ache in his chest, the quiet panic creeping in. He wanted to scream, to protest, but the words wouldn't come. His head was a mess of conflicting emotions, none of them good. How had this happened? Why did it have to be him? The man he had spent so much time avoiding, was suddenly his future.

But his mother wasn't noticing any of this. She was simply smiling softly, oblivious to her son's inner turmoil. She didn't see how the weight of her words was crushing him.

"Jungkook, I know this is a lot to take in," Mrs. Jeon began, her voice calm and soothing, the same way she had spoken to him since he was a child. "But it's important that you understand. This marriage isn't just something we decided on now, or even last year. This is something that's been planned for a long time."

Jungkook swallowed hard, trying to breathe through the rising panic in his chest. Why Taehyung? Why now?

His mother continued without noticing the look in her son's eyes, lost in the narrative she was so certain was right. "When Taehyung's mother was in the hospital, the doctors said she didn't have much time left. I went to visit her often. We spoke about many things, about the future, and she asked me for one thing." Mrs. Jeon's voice softened, and her eyes became distant, lost in the memory. "She asked me to promise her something. She asked me to make sure that when the time came, you and Taehyung would marry."

Jungkook's heart stopped in his chest.

His mother kept talking, unaware of the storm brewing inside her son. "It was something she believed in deeply. She wanted your marriage to unite the two families, to ensure stability for you both. It was a bond she wanted to see honored."

The words hit Jungkook like a physical blow. His mind spun, the room feeling suddenly too small, too cramped. This is a joke. It's a mistake. How could this be real? He hadn't known. He hadn't been told.

"You see, Jungkook, when she was still well, she believed this marriage was going to be good for both of you," Mrs. Jeon continued, a soft smile curling on her lips as she spoke. "She wanted both our families to come together. And as her best friend, I promised her I would see it through. It's been a long time coming, and now, everything is falling into place."

Jungkook felt a sharp pain in his chest. It wasn't anger, not exactly—more like confusion, disappointment, and a strange sense of powerlessness. He had always been ready for an arranged marriage, but he hadn't expected this. He hadn't expected Taehyung. Not him.